31 students became pregnant while in secondary school during the 2018 - 2019 scholastic year, Education and Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo said during Parliament on Tuesday.

Bartolo said that 24 of those students dropped out of school as a result, leaving only seven of these students to continue their secondary school studies.

Bartolo said that these students were referred to the government's Ghozza service, which is a support service and educational programme for unmarried pregnant minors. He said that it is important to reach out to these girls and to help them continue their studies. He said that such girls should be offered free childcare as to give them the opportunity to continue their studies or work.

Out of those 31 students, three became pregnant while they were 14 years old; 11 when they were 15 years old and the following 17 became pregnant at 16 years old. The students who became pregnant at 16 did not continue their education; two out of three students who became pregnant at 14 continued studying, whilst only five out of 11 students who became pregnant at 15 continued their studies.